The last time he graced the Namibian soil was last November when together with fellow South African, Hip Hop Pantsula, they headline the Windhoek Jazz Festival. But Jonathan Butler’s association with Namibia did not start last year but goes back to yesteryears.
He first performed in what was South-West Africa during the late 1970s and performed in Windhoek, Rehoboth, Swakopmund and Lüderitz. He was on tour with South African band The Rockets, as well as SA singer, songwriter and producer Richard John Smith. “I have fond memories and it is so good to be back,” he said last year when he performed in Windhoek last year. But now the muso has the latest offering for his fans worldwide, which surely include Namibia.
The Jazz/R&B/Gospel artist has just release his new album “Free.” “Free” features eleven (11) rousing tracks, including the single “Be Encouraged,” the title-track “Free,’ the joyful and celebratory tune “You Are The One,” the tender ballad “Where Would I Be,” and the worship anthem “I Am That I Am” to name a few. The album was produced by Luther “Mano” Hanes.
Born and raised in Athlone, Cape Town, South Africa, during Apartheid, Butler started singing and playing acoustic guitar as a child. Racial segregation and poverty during Apartheid has been the subject of many of his records. His first single was the first by a black artist played by white radio stations in the racially segregated South Africa and earned a Sarie Award, South Africa’s equivalent to the Grammy Awards.
He began touring at the age of seven when he joined a travelling stage show, and was later signed up to perform on a string of hit recordings, turning him into a local teen idol. In 1975 his cover of “Please Stay (song)” by The Drifters reached number 2 in South Africa. The same year his cover of “I Love How You Love Me” by The Paris Sisters reached number 4. “I’ll be Home” reached number 16 in 1976.
In 1978 he found the inspiration and encouragement to begin expressing himself as a composer and songwriter when he joined Cape Town’s best known jazz/rock outfit, Pacific Express. Two albums were recorded with the Express personnel, and some Pacific Express songs were later released on the 1988 7th Avenue album. All three releases were issued by Mountain Records.
Butler was signed to Jive Records in 1977, and in the early 1980s he moved to the United Kingdom, where he remained for seventeen years. His international breakthrough came in 1987 with his Grammy-nominated hit single, “Lies” which reached #25 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, and his cover version of the Staple Singers song “If You’re Ready (Come Go with Me)”, which he performed with Ruby Turner.
In 2001, Butler was featured in a compilation album that was a jazz tribute to Bob Marley produced by Lee Ritenour, A Twist of Marley. Butler’s contribution to the album was a jazz cover of No Woman No Cry.